Technical Field
The present invention relates to an audio control console such as a mixing console.
Description of the Related Art
There has been known an audio controller such as a mixer which blends together multiple sound sources or voice signals to produce combined output signals. Such an audio controller includes a plurality of channel strips provided with various kinds of controls (i.e., operating members) to control sound volumes and sound qualities of the respective sound sources that have input to signal processing channels.
In recent years, digital mixers which convert input voice signals to digital signals to process the voice signals have achieved widespread use in addition to analog mixers using analog processing to process input voice signals. Any of the digital mixers and the analog mixers executes signal processing in each channel such as gain control, equalization, panning control, and control for main sound volume (a fader). In the analog mixers, a plurality of channel strips respectively corresponding to signal processing channels are provided on an operation panel, and each of the channel strips is provided with a multiplicity of controls for individually controlling parameters for signal processings, resulting in increase in size of the operation panel. In the digital mixers, each channel strip can be assigned to a desired signal processing channels, and each control can be assigned to a desired one of parameters for the signal processings, resulting in reduced number of channel strips and controls provided on the operation panel, leading to a reduced-size housing. A mixer of a console type having a plurality of channel strips on an upper surface portion of a housing is called a mixing console, for example.
A digital mixer (i.e., a digital mixing console) is typically provided with a display on a main body for various kinds of settings. In such a digital mixer, signal processings such as controls of sound quality and sound volume, delay, and reverb are achieved by software. Also, larger packing densities, higher speed, and the like of semiconductor (such as a CPU, a DSP, and a memory) can greatly reduce the area of circuit components, printed circuit boards, and so on disposed in the digital mixer when compared with analog mixers, allowing greater functionality and less space.
For such mixing consoles, for example, various constructions have been proposed such as (i) a construction disclosed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-171227) in which devices including a speaker, a keyboard, and a mouse can be placed on an upper portion of a housing and (ii) a construction disclosed in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-226261) in which even though the mixing console has a multiplicity of channels, the console is constructed so as to have a relatively small width and accordingly requires less space. Also, Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 05-123224) discloses a construction in which a table for supporting a script is provided on an operating board of a mixing console.